Down the Rabbit Hole
by Dr.Badass
Summary: Follows on from episode "Into the Wild" Everyone's separate and With Damon gone, What will Elena do without him?


Damon began to wake up. Ugh, his head was pounding. Where was he? Opening his eyes he blinked a few times, letting his eyes focus. He was in the dark, somewhere like a dark cave. It smelled damp and was mossy. He remembered then what had happened. The Island, Shane, Elena, the Hunter. One of the five- how was he even alive?

Damon got to his feet and walked forwards, he could see light ahead. He walked until he met the mouth of the cave, carefully he listened for footsteps. He knew he couldn't kill the hunter or he'd be cursed so he was in a difficult position. When he heard only birds and the wind he stepped out into the day light.

"Argh!" he hissed as he began to burn in the sun light. He flashed back into the damp, dark cave.

"Dick!" Damon moaned when he saw his daylight ring was gone. Fear flashed through him then, Elena…Stefan… what if they killed the new hunter, it could be decades before they found a new hunter to break the curse or worse still, what if the hunter killed them first. He was stuck here until sunset, unable to help, completely useless. Damon paced back and forth with his mind on Elena. What if her last memory of him was their fight, of him leaving her? He would never forgive himself.

"Okay, okay!" he suddenly heard that whiney British accent approaching. "Don't be fooled, if you weren't one of the five you would be dead right now."

"Get inside."

Damon saw Rebecca walking into the cave.

"Rebecca?"

"Damon… we wondered where you'd gone. We were looking for you, are the others here?"

"Others?" Damon asked as his eyebrows knitted together

"Jeremy and Bonnie… even Shane is gone."

"No, I don't know where they are…Hey! Come back here."

Damon shouted after the hunter who was walking away.

"Forget him for now." Rebecca said. "I take it you saw he was one of the five?"

"It's the only reason he's breathing." Damon snapped "Where's Elena and Stefan?"

"They're still out there, looking for everyone. I was ambushed, they didn't see what happened to me." She said

"He took my daylight ring." Damon said

"That's unfortunate." Rebecca said "We need to think of a plan, we can't go anywhere until we figure something out."

Across the Island Elena followed Stefan through the trees. "We need to go back…"

"No." Stefan said as he pushed on through the trees.

"Something took Rebecca, Stefan!" Elena shouted

"I know." Stefan said

"Does that not concern you with the fact that everyone is disappearing?" she bellowed

"Rebecca is an original, she'll be fine."

"What about Damon?" Elena said "He could be in danger."

"He could be halfway to Mystic Falls for all we know. You said he walked away from you after all."

"He's your brother!" Elena yelled

"Keep it down." Stefan snapped, finally looking around at her "Do you want to draw attention to us."

"Stop pretending you don't care about him. You have to be worried Stefan, he could be…" Elena stopped, she couldn't even think it

"Damon's a big boy, Elena." Stefan said as he turned away from her and kept on walking

"Stop pretending you don't care." Elena said her heart breaking inside. "You love him, you know it deep down."

Stefan said nothing but she saw him shake his head in front of her.

"It's me you should be angry with. I'm the one who made the first move. I told him he was the reason I couldn't be with you at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant… stop putting all the blame on him."

"It didn't stop him sleeping with you at the first chance he got." Stefan said

"I get it, you're hurt Stefan, but can you really blame me for falling out of love with you?" Elena wished she hadn't said it as soon as the words slipped out

Stefan stopped walking again.

"I'm sorry." Elena said quietly

"You think I don't know it. I practically pushed you towards him when I was the ripper."

"I'm not trying to hurt you, Stefan, but Damon was really there for me when you were gone. He was the only thing that was holding me together. He toughened me up, he didn't let me wallow and fail he keep me fighting and I couldn't ignore the things I was feeling for him anymore. I pushed them aside for a while but I didn't ignore them anymore."

"Why are you even telling me this?" Stefan asked as he turned to face her.

"Because I need you to understand. You think this is the stupid sire bond but it's not, it's really not."

"You can't know that." Stefan said desperately

"I do, I'm sorry Stefan and I care about you, I do… but I love Damon and nothing will change when we get the cure."

"I'm willing to take the cure. I would have taken it for you so we could be together properly, have a family, have it all."

"I told you that day on the porch that I love you for trying to get it for me and I do Stefan but so much has changed and _I've_ had to change so much over the past months. I don't want to hurt you but I don't want to lie to you either, we don't have that future coming Stefan, I'm sorry."

Stefan closed his eyes and shook his head again. "So you think Damon will take the cure with you?"

"No." Elena said shakily "That's why he left. He told me he won't."

"Are you surprised?" Stefan asked

Elena shrugged, she didn't know what she thought.

"Damon doesn't want you to change, why would he when he has exactly what he wants?" Stefan said bitterly

"He doesn't believe me." Elena admitted "He thinks I don't really love him."

Stefan looked surprised for a second "Well he's got that much right."

"You're wrong!" Elena bellowed "I can't keep going over this for everyone. I need the cure, it's the only way I can prove it then, the only way I can break the sire bond."

"So you only want the cure to break the sire bond, not so you can be human?"

"I don't know anymore. It's not so bad being a vampire now, I'm not hurting anyone, and I'm in control…" she replied

"I can't do this right now." Stefan said suddenly as he walked off

Elena followed slowly, she didn't want to do this either but she felt it was better to get this out.

"If we don't get this all out in the open none of us are going to be able to move on." She said quietly

Stefan said nothing so she tried something else.

"Are you still taking the cure?"

"Yes." Stefan replied incredulously "not everything is about you, you know."

"I know." Elena said in a hurt voice

"I want to leave my life of misery behind me, the ripper, the guilt…"

"You think the guilt will leave?" Elena asked him honestly curious

"I don't know until it happens but I think so." Stefan replied

"Is that the worst part?" Elena asked him "The guilt?"

"Yes." Stefan replied

"What do you feel guilty about?" she asked

"Are you kidding me? You know what I've done." He said incredulously

"That wasn't you, not really. You're not the ripper."

"Stop trying to always see the best in people. It's tedious." Stefan said tersely

Elena said nothing then and they walked aimlessly for a while, seeing nothing helpful or no one.

"Why do you think Damon won't take the cure?" She said after a while. She knew he probably didn't want to talk about Damon but it was eating her up inside not knowing.

"Why are you asking me?" Stefan said slowly

"Because you know him better than anyone." Elena reminded him.

"What do you think?" Stefan said turning it around on her

"Because he doesn't want to be human with me… and spend his remaining days with me too." She said quietly admitting her new fear

"I don't think that's right." Stefan said grudgingly.

"Really?" she asked

"Damon's good at being a vampire, Elena." He replied then "You know that. He's never struggled the way I struggle. He _understands_ it. He's in complete control of it, he doesn't have to kill someone if he doesn't need to, and he doesn't have to feel guilty about something if he chooses not to. As a human Damon was different, our Father didn't love Damon like he loved me, I don't know why… he just _didn't._ But I knew it made Damon feel weak, he's not weak as a vampire."

"Would you want him to take the cure?" She asked

Stefan was silent for a while and she though he wasn't going to answer her.

"Yes."

"You would?" Elena probed

"Yes, I made him a vampire, he didn't want it to happen, he was ready to die but I took his choice away so everything he's done is on me too and-"

Stefan stopped talking when an arrow pierced his shoulder

"Oh my God, Stefan!" Elena yelled

"Get down." Stefan hissed as he dropped down.

Elena dropped down beside him and yanked the arrow from his body.

"What are we going to do?" she said in panic

"Stay calm." Stefan said as he tried to scan the forest for the attacker

Just then an arrow pieced through Elena's side

"Ahh!" she yelled in pain

"We need to run." Stefan decided "Come here."

He pulled the weapon from her; her jumper was soaked in blood.

"Can you run?" he asked her urgently

"Yes." She replied

"We need to stay together."

But before they could make a decision the hunter dropped down from a tree.

"Going somewhere?" he asked in a calm voice

"Who are you?" Stefan asked as he stood up.

"My name is Vaughn." The hunter replied as he moved towards them, fearless.

"He's one of the five." Elena said when she saw the familiar tattoos on his hands.

"Very good." He smiled "And you see the thing is apparently you can't kill me or else you'll be cursed! Isn't that just marvellous." He said cockily

"Who told you that?" Stefan asked, trying to sound calm

"Another one of your kind." Vaughn said.

"Rebecca." Stefan replied "What did you do with her? I know you didn't kill her because she's an original vampire."

"Oh she's safe… for now." Vaughn said as he twirled a stake in his hand. "That can't be said for your other friend."

"Other friend?" Stefan said sounding oblivious "There is no one else." He lied

"Oh really?" Vaughn smiled politely "Well my mistake then. I'll just kill you both and then be off."

"Who else?" Elena said quickly "Who did you find? My brother? He's human…"

"Oh no. This one was vermin, just like you two." Vaughn said

"Oh God…no, no…" Elena said, her world was collapsing around her, not Damon… she grabbed at Stefan's arm in turmoil

"Stop it." Stefan said to her. "He's lying."

"Maybe I am and maybe I'm not." Vaughn teased.

"Not Damon." Elena wept unable to stop herself "please…no!"

"Damon… was that his name?" Vaughn smiled "Well I'm sorry for your loss."

"I don't believe you." Stefan said defiantly with a smile

Elena sobbed, Damon was dead. She couldn't breathe. Her heart was breaking…

"He's lying Elena." Stefan said calmly "Damon wouldn't get caught."

"Except I'm not and he did… so…" Vaughn smiled

Just then they heard raised voices. They all looked around trying to see where they came from.

Vaughn suddenly looked on edge.

"Well it looks like I'll be off Elena and… sorry I didn't catch your name…" he looked at Stefan "You've been spared this time; you won't be so lucky next time."

He turned to leave "Oh actually…" He tossed something into the dense forest floor. "This might give you some closure." And then he took off running through the trees.

"Stefan tell me it's not true, he can't be gone, please!" Elena collapsed on to the earth.

"He's just trying to rattle you." Stefan began searching through the shrubs and leaves for whatever Vaughn had thrown "He probably met Damon and Damon knew he couldn't kill him so he took off and…-"

"what?" Elena said wiping her eyes, trying to pull herself together and believe what Stefan was saying "What is it?"

She scrambled to her feet and flashed to Stefan's side. He was motionless just staring at nothing, his hand closed over the object.

"Stefan… you're scaring me." She looked at his black face and then prised open his fist.

"No." she cried as she took Damon's ring from Stefan's hand, she doubled over in two as the unbearable pain rocked through her. And that's when Stefan lost it.

**A/N Just toying around with this idea. What do you think? Dr. B xx**


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